12.1.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 15/213 Thursday 20 May 2021
63.
Highlights the importance of education and research for AI; underlines that EU has to build up its digital capacities, by encouraging more people to pursue careers in ICT-related sectors, by training more data professionals in the field of AI, as well as professionals in connected new domains such as AI-investing and AI safety; Calls for substantial investment in the European Network of Artificial Intelligence Excellence Centres and the creation of pan-European university and research networks focused on AI; believes that this network should help to strengthen the exchange of knowledge on AI, support AI related talent within the EU and attract new talent, foster the cooperation between innovative companies, higher education, research institutions and AI developers as well as provide specialised training and development for regulatory authorities, with the aim of ensuring the proper use of these technologies and protecting European citizens from potential risks and damages to their fundamental rights; furthermore stresses the importance of measures and information channels to help small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups to effectively digitise and advance into ‘industry 5.0’; recognises that sharing and reusing AI application components increases the use and uptake of AI solutions; highlights the importance of fundamental research into the foundations of AI; emphasises the need to allow comprehensive research into all AI applications and technologies;
64.
Calls for impact assessments on the consequences of digital divide on people and concrete action how to bridge it; calls for mitigation of negative impact through education, reskilling and upskilling; underlines that the gender dimension needs to be taken into account, given the insufficient representation of women in STEM and digital companies; believes that particular attention should be paid to AI literacy programmes;
65.
Calls on the Commission to update the existing product safety and liability framework in order to address new challenges posed by emerging digital technologies such as artificial intelligence; and urges the Commission to update inter alia the General Product Safety Directive and the Product Liability Directive, in particular by considering reversing the concept of ‘burden of proof’ for harm caused by emerging digital technologies, in clearly defined cases and after a proper assessment, and adapting the terms ‘product’, ‘damage’ and ‘defect’ so that they reflect the complexity of emerging technologies, including products with AI, IoT and robotics embedded in them, standalone software and software or updates which entail substantial modification to the product leading to a de facto new product;
66.
Stresses that adequate connectivity should be developed for the implementation of AI, as well as any new technology, including in regions facing demographic or economic challenges; calls for the unequal access to technology in rural areas to be taken into account in particular when Union funds are used for the deployment of 5G networks, to reduce blank spots, and for connectivity infrastructures in general; calls for an EU communication strategy that provides EU citizens with reliable information, as well as for awareness-raising campaigns regarding 5G;
67.
Calls on the Commission to assess the development and use of distributed ledger technologies including blockchain, namely smart contracts in the digital single market, and to provide guidance and consider developing an appropriate legal framework in order to ensure legal certainty for businesses and consumers, in particular the question of legality, the enforcement of smart contracts in cross-border situations, and notarisation requirements where applicable;
68.
Calls for the plurilateral World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations on e-commerce to be concluded with a balanced outcome; calls on the Commission to carefully assess the impact of the source code clause currently being discussed in the e-commerce negotiations on future EU AI legislation at WTO level, including its impact on consumer rights, and to involve the European Parliament in this assessment; regrets that, in the absence of global rules, EU companies may be faced with non-tariff barriers to digital trade such as unjustified geo-blocking, data localisation and mandatory technology transfer requirements; notes that these barriers are particularly challenging for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); highlights that global rules on digital trade could further increase consumer protection; supports making the WTO moratorium on electronic transmissions permanent and stresses that it is important to provide clarity regarding the definition of electronic transmissions; calls for the WTO Information Technology Agreement, its expansion and the WTO Telecommunications Services Reference Paper to be fully implemented and more widely adopted;